The Department of Veterans Affairs and the IRS are two agencies dealing with backlogs for citizen services. The VA has a claims backlog in the Veterans Benefits Administration; the IRS has a backlog of tax returns. Paul Lawrence, former Undersecretary for Benefits at the Department of Veterans Affairs and his co-author Mark Abramson have a piece in Gov Exec titled “Helping Production Agencies Deliver.” They’re also co-authors of the book “Succeeding as a Political Executive: 50 Insights from Experience.” Paul explains how production agencies can get ahead of their workloads - and stay ahead.

Several Department of Homeland Security components are collaborating on vetting programs. One of the components involved is the Transportation Security Administration. Neal Latta, Assistant Administrator for Enrollment Services and Vetting Programs at TSA, discusses the technologies that are changing the vetting process, and how his agency is working with others inside DHS to deploy and maximize them.

Photo: Neal Latta, Assistant Administrator for Enrollment Services and Vetting Programs, TSA, testifies at a House Transportation and Maritime Security subcommittee hearing, May 10, 2023 (screengrab from committee web site)